Palestinians participate in rally to mark Nakba Day, near Ramallah, the West Bank, 15 May 2012. Thousands marched in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, commemorating the dispersal of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in the wake of the creation of Israel 64 years ago. Known in Arabic as the Nakba, or catastrophe, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes during the war that erupted a day after Israel declared statehood on May 14, 1948.